This lab is adapted from the canned denatured pineapple experiment. Instead of investigating the effect of canning on enzyme activity, we look for the presence of the substrate.

This is a useful teaching lab for all the criteria and requires very few resources.

Background Information:Gelatin is made from a protein called collagen which comes from the joints of animals. Gelatin may be dissolved in hot water. As the dissolved gelatin mixture cools, the collagen forms into a matrix that traps water; as a result, the mixture turns into the jiggling semi-solid mass that is jelly. Pineapple belongs to a group of plants called Bromeliads (also includes kiwi, papaya & figs). The enzyme in pineapple juice that is responsible for the breakdown of collagen is bromelin.

Experimental Design:The formal design can be decided between the teacher and students. The aim is to investigate the action of bromelin on collagen in the two jellies. Jello has collagen and KoolAid doesn’t. The students are not told this and will hopefully postulate this as an explanation for their results. This experiment works well because the students have to decide how they will collect qualitative and quantitative data. It demonstrates the importance of replication with highly variable data. We found that 30mins was long enough to see a difference.

Data Collection and ProcessingIf each student has an n of five for each group, the data can be pooled at the end. The data was highly variable (good for evaluation), by looking at the spread of the pooled data, students can make a decision as to the validity of statistical analysis in this case.

Conclusion and EvaluationStudents will hopefully see that the pineapple had an effect on one of jellies and not the other. If all conditions, bar the substrate were consistent, they will hopefully start to think about collagen in the substrate....

YOU MAY ALSO FIND THESE DOCUMENTS HELPFUL

...The Effect of Pineapple Juice on the Gelling Time of Gelatin
Abstract:
Fresh pineapple is known for not being able to gel and this experiment is aimed to figure out why. Bromelain is an enzyme the breaks the chains in proteins making them inactive and pineapple are known for having it. In this experiment we tested other factors that pineapple contain to pin point what the culprit was. It was discovered the Bromelain was actually the reason that fresh pineapple won’t gel but if you boil the pineapple or pasteurize it, it denatures the enzyme, allowing it to gel.
Introduction:
Why does canned pineapple make excellent jell-o but fresh pineapple falls short? A few hypotheses are that the fresh pineapple is too acidic, that Bromelain, an enzyme found in pineapple might break down the protein bonds of collagen, or there is a high concentration of fructose in the fresh pineapple. Our prediction was that if any one of these three were correct then the fresh pineapple would not gel. Below is an experiment that we did with fresh pineapple juice and canned pineapple juice; we tested each of them to see which gelled first. We then tested each of our hypotheses above to see which property had a negative reaction to collagen....

...hypothesis is not supported because the p-value was 0.000056; which is less than 0.05 thus, meaning the difference was significant.
TABLE 1: EFFECT OF CONCENTRATION OF H2O2 ON RATE OF PRODUCTION OF O2
H2O2 Concentration
Rate of production of O2 (ml/sec)
Trial No.
25%
50%
100%
1
0.428
0.88
3.8
2
0.56
1.069
3.92
3
0.315
0.954
4.227
TABLE 2: EFFECT OF CONCENTRATION OF H2O2 ON RATE OF PRODUCTION OF O2 – DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
H202 concentrations
Descriptive Statistics
25%
50%
100%
p-value
5.6E-05
ST DEV
0.100
0.078
0.180
Mean
0.428
0.954
3.92
Average
0.434
0.968
3.982
Median
0.428
0.954
3.92
Max
0.56
1.069
4.227
Min
0.315
0.88
3.8
Range
0.245
0.074
0.307
FIGURE 1: EFFECT OF H2O2 ON REACTION RATE OF LIVER CATALASE
Conclusion:
Enzymes are catalysts that bind temporarily on to reactants — the substrate(s) — of the reaction they catalyze and in turn lower the amount of activation energy needed and speed up the reaction. In this laboratory exercise an experiment was conducted to understand the effect of concentration of hydrogen peroxide on the reaction rates of liver catalase. The data obtained indicated that oxygen produced changes proportionately with the concentration of H2O2. Further analysis suggested the rate of change of O2 produced increased non-linearly with increase in concentration of H2O2.
This experiment was conducted in order to see the effect of altered concentrations of H2O2on the reaction rate of liver catalase. Firstly, 10 ml of...

...Potato EnzymeLab
INTRODUCTION
An enzyme is a protein that speeds up or slows down a specific chemical reaction in an organism. A good rule of thumb is to remember that enzyme names end in “-ase”. This will help in identifying enzymes in further readings. Generally enzymes are catalysts.
Hydrogen peroxide is a toxic chemical that is produced in many organisms during metabolism. Organisms must get rid of this toxin to survive. One reaction turns the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. The enzyme that helps with this reaction is called catalase. This is found in both plants and animals. In this lab we will use potatoes as our catalase source. The reaction equation is:
Catalase
2H2O2 2H2O + O2
Additional Information that May Help: "Hydrogen peroxide bubbles when it comes into contact with an enzyme called catalase. Most cells in the body contain catalase, so when the tissue is damaged the enzyme is released and becomes available to react with the peroxide. Catalase allows hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 to be broken down into water (H2O) and oxygen (O2). The bubbles you see when you pour oxygen on a cut are bubbles of oxygen gas. Blood, cells, and some bacteria (e.g., staphylococcus) contain catalase, but it is not found on the surface of your skin so pouring peroxide on unbroken skin will not cause bubbles...

...February 27, 2013
Ms. Balmer
Pineapple Jelly EnzymeLab Discussion
After completing the Pineapple Jell-O Enzymelab, the final results were that the canned pineapple formed the jelly while the fresh pineapple did not. Pineapple In order for this to have occurred, there has to be a comparison between fresh and canned pineapple in terms of their physical and chemical properties. The physical properties of fresh pineapple are that it is sweet, ripe and raw. These properties make fresh pineapples very healthy and delicious to eat. The chemical properties of fresh pineapple are that it contains bromelain, vitamin C, antioxidants, carbohydrates and helps defend the immune system. Bromelain is an enzyme that “promotes the digestive process and helps to break down proteins in foods” (Jomard, 2007). It also breaks “collagen, preventing Jell-O from gelling” (Helmenstine, 2013). It is also used as an anticoagulant, which prevents blood clotting. Fresh pineapples also have “anti-inflammatory properties, which make it useful to reduce pain” (Botanical-online, 2013). Vitamin C is “important to the health of your immune system and enables your body to repair and grow tissue” (Cespedes, 2011). The physical properties of canned pineapple are that they are sweet...

...Biology
Lab Exercise
Enzymes: Catalysts of Life
Instructor: Professor Alcendor
By
Shahid Rana
Date: March 7th, 2013
Abstract:
In this experiment we have demonstrated the function of enzymes. The whole experiment was devoted to understand how enzymes work as a catalysts and increase the chemical reaction without being used themselves. In general, enzymes are proteins that function as biological catalysts. These enzymes adhere to lower to amount of energy required for a chemical reaction to be completed and as a result, the enzymes function to provide faster products and remain unchanged at the end of the reaction. The lab exercise was mainly concentrated to understand how enzyme function differs in Temperature, amount of substrate, pH (acidity and basicity), specificity and enzyme activity.
Title:
Enzymes: Catalysts of Life
Introduction:
Life as we know it is impossible without enzymes. The energy required by your muscles simply would take years to accumulate without enzymes and because of enzymes reaction occurring in cells are completed in a fraction of second rather than years. Enzymes are proteins that function as biological catalysts. A catalyst is a substance that lowers the amount of energy necessary for a chemical reaction to proceed. The...

...Introduction
How does changing the surroundings of enzymes affect their reaction rate? The purpose of the experiment is to determine how different abiotic conditions affect the rate at which enzymes accelerate/cause reactions In this lab students measured the height of the foam after catalysis between catalase (enzyme) and 7 other (solutions) to determine which solution had the fastest reaction rate.. The control variable of the experiment would be the solution of only hydrogen peroxide, water, and catalase. The independent variables of the experiment were the abiotic factors such as PH level, temperature, and the amount of salt within the environment. The dependent variable of the experiment would be the height of the foam(product) after each change in environment. If I change the environment of the catalyst by adding high sodium, low sodium, and very low sodium into three individual test tubes , and measured the height of the foam then low sodium would have the highest reaction rate, this is because changes in the concentration of salt alter the electrostatic interactions between charged amino acids, so if salt is added the ability of enzymes to bind to the substrate is altered and the enzyme may or may not be able to bind to it. If I change the environment of the catalyst by adding room temperature , boiling , and freezing cold Solutions into three individual test tubes and...

...Abstract
Enzyme catalysis was observed in order to analyze how changes in temperature, pH, enzyme concentration, and substrate concentration affected an enzyme-catalyzed reaction. This experiment analyzed the rate of enzyme-catalyzed reactions and observed the correlation between catalase activity and products formed. It was found out that the rate of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction starts off rapidly, decreases, and levels off or completely stops, and can be further affected by environmental factors, which play a crucial role in regulating enzymes and metabolic processes.
Based on this experiment and the data collected one is able to conclude that the optimal environment in which this specific catalase is able to function is around 40°C and in a pH around 7. This type of environment allows the enzyme to function at its fullest potential and produce the maximum amount of product allotted by the implemented amount of substrate present without the hindrance of environmental factors.
Introduction
Background: Enzymes, most of which are proteins, have two interrelated roles. One is to act as catalysts and accelerate spontaneous biochemical reactions so they occur with sufficient rates at moderate temperatures. The other is to determine which spontaneous biochemical reactions will be accelerated out of many more possibilities present in the cell. Balance...

...Introduction
Enzymes are proteins produced by living organisms to speed up the rate in which chemical reactions occur. This process can happen fast, slowly, or stop the chemical reaction all together depending on the temperature, pH and concentration.
Catalase is one of the most common enzymes. It is found in living organisms and is used to break down hydrogen peroxide. This must happen because hydrogen peroxide is considered toxic to cells in the body. However, when catalase is used it breaks it down into hydrogen and oxygen, which is much safer to have in the body.
A substrate is the material that is being broken down. In this case, the substrate would be hydrogen peroxide. The catalase, located in the liver, is being used to break down the substrate.
Problem
The purpose of this lab is to see if the enzyme, catalase, can be manipulated. We are testing the effects of pH, temperature and enzyme concentration.
Hypothesis
Controlled
When we add peroxide to the liver it will bubble a lot and break down faster.
When we add peroxide to the liver it will not bubble a lot and it will not break down faster.
pH
When acid is added to the liver, it will increase the reaction rate and a large amount of bubbles will surface.
When acid is added to the liver, it will not increase the reaction rate and a large amount of bubbles will not surface.
When water is added to the liver, there will...